Bryan Yuen is only seven years old but already he has lived in six flats in Hong Kong. Such is the state of the city's real estate market that, until their present apartment, his parents had been at the mercy of homeowners who have raised rents unreasonably or had that buy-to-sell mentality that sees tenants turfed out as soon as profit can be realised.
Having been renters rather than owners in the past meant father Andy Yuen, a banker, and his wife, Carol, who is also in finance, owned little furniture they felt was worth keeping.
'I needed to buy things that were simple and flexible,' Andy Yuen says. It also had to be inexpensive because there was always the chance they would move again and have to acquire new kit to fit their new environment.
So when they bought their own home - a 2,300 sq ft flat in Baguio Villa, Pok Fu Lam - Yuen took the time to furnish it, particularly the living room, with items that were keepers.
With interior designer Clifton Leung, the pair chose simple but stylish modern furniture in colours that would set the tone for their spare but stylish flat: a palette of black, white and grey affords a calming backdrop to vibrant accessories, including bright Vietnamese paintings of flame-red trees.
Trawling through furniture shops in Hong Kong was hard work that trimmed a few kilos off Yuen, he says. More importantly, it made him realise how inflated prices can be.